CHENNAI: With the exception of Kathakali, very few dance forms rely heavily on the face of the dancer like Bharatanatyam. Heartbreak has little to do with the hands and feet; you have the Karuna. You know the maidens are frolicking in the gardens when they do their best Hasya. And all you need is Raudra for a hero’s war cry. But when your subject is stone and structure, and the significance they hold, you’re compelled to look beyond the Navarasas to tell your story. ‘Añjasa - Unravel the wonders of Buddhist Monuments of Asia’ does just that, redefining Bharatanatyam for the rapt audience in the process. 

Second in the architecture series of Singapore’s Apsaras Arts Dance Company, Añjasa explores the beauty of Buddhist temples and the stories they carry, and offers a glimpse into the teachings of the Buddha. It begins with the story of Queen Maha Devi giving birth under a sal tree in a sacred garden that is now immortalised in the Lumbini in Nepal. The very first act — where dancers transform themselves into horses, the chariot drawn by them, trees, butterflies and birds hovering over flowers, the flowers themselves, the gentle waves around the bathing queen — sets a lofty bar for the rest of the show. What more, the rest of the show clears it again and again. 

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